Gov. Phil Murphy has repeatedly warned lately that New Jersey isn’t "out of the woods” when it comes to the coronavirus. And he continues to move cautiously in peeling back months-long social-distancing restrictions.
But Murphy made one thing clear Wednesday: Despite a recent uptick in daily cases and the threat of a second wave in the fall and winter, he doesn’t expect to have to shut down the state again in the widespread way he did in March.
“I sure as heck hope we don’t and I do not anticipate it,” Murphy said during a virtual town hall on Facebook Live. “I will be profoundly saddened and I will say shocked if we have to shut the whole place down again. I just don’t see that.”
As COVID-19 spread rapidly in New Jersey, Murphy issued orders in March for residents to stay home, all schools to close, and nonessential retail businesses to shutter to slow the virus’ spread.
Six months later, he hasn’t reopened the state completely and has moved more slowly than other governors in easing those restrictions. But as New Jersey’s numbers have vastly improved the last few months, schools have returned in a variety of ways — both in-person, remotely and hybrid — and most businesses are now allowed to operate again, albeit with capacity limits and mask orders.
Murphy on Wednesday did not address any plans to lift restrictions even further or whether he expects to tighten them if the state sees coronavirus numbers rise — which he has previously suggested is possible.
The governor said “it’s anybody’s guess” if the Garden State will experience a second wave. He did note the state will at least see hotspots. Currently, officials are dealing with a troubling rise in cases in Ocean County, and Lakewood in particular.
But Murphy stressed the state has “so much more in place right now," including better medical knowledge of the virus, face covering orders, social distancing plans, bed capacity at hospitals, a backlog of ventilators and personal protective equipment. Plus, the state has increased testing and contact tracing.
Murphy was also asked when New Jersey schools will return to five-days-a-week in-person classes.
The governor said that’s “largely dependent on your district," but he said he expects more schools to switch from all-remote classes to hybrid classes in the fall than those going from hybrid classes to all-in-person. He didn’t provide any exact dates or more detailed projections.
State officials announced Wednesday that at least 11 New Jersey schools have confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks in which students or teachers transmitted the virus in school buildings or through extracurricular activities.
But Murphy noted that’s out of more than 3,000 schools and he said what the state has seen so far in schools “is very encouraging, allowing us the confidence to continue moving forward.”
“I think you’ll see that confidence evidence itself in the swinging of schools going from remote to hybrid,” he added. “I think that will happen sooner and in more scale than hybrid to full-on.”
The governor added that there’s “only so much space in any given school that would allow so many kids on a socially distant basis” until there is a vaccine or proven therapy for the virus.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage
New Jersey, an early U.S. epicenter, has suffered more than 16,000 deaths related to COVID-19 - second most in the country.
After six months of restrictions, the state has seen its daily coronavirus deaths, hospitalizations, and cases drop significantly since April, when officials were routinely reporting hundreds of new deaths and thousands of new cases a day.
Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s leading infectious disease expert, told Murphy last week that New Jersey is in “good shape” compared to other states and can continue to reopen its schools and economy “gradually, prudently, and carefully” despite the threat of a second wave.
Some lawmakers, business leaders, and residents continue to push Murphy to lift restrictions more swiftly — especially indoor dining capacity at restaurants, which is limited to 25%. The governor has said increasing capacity will depend on “sustained good numbers."
The pandemic and its aftermath have taken a major toll on the state’s economy, with more than 1.6 million residents having filed for unemployment, businesses losing untold revenue and numerous businesses having closed permanently.
Still, Murphy extended the state’s public-health emergency for a seventh time — a move that doesn’t erase any reopening steps but gives Murphy the broad power to keep taking action to combat the virus.
“COVID is still with us,” Murphy said during the town hall Wednesday. “We’re a lot better than we used to be. But we’ve got some hotspots. ... We’re still out there trying to save every life we can.”
State officials on Wednesday reported nine more deaths and 722 more positives tests in New Jersey. That’s the third time in the last few days there have been more than 700 cases. Plus, the state’s rate of transmission is 1.15, matching the highest it’s been in a month and remaining above the critical benchmark of 1 that shows the outbreak here is growing.
Lakewood accounted for 134 positive tests alone Wednesday. Officials said they are speaking with officials in Ocean County to determine what the issues are and how to fight them.
Deaths have remained relatively stable in the state in recent weeks. But state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli warned Wednesday the state has seen “a slight uptick” in hospitalizations over the past 14 days.
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.
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